Mercedes Grand Prix
|years = 1886–present |founder = |staff = |drivers = |f1years = – , –present |races = -808}} |wins = + - 12}} |poles = + - 18}} |fastestlaps = + - 4}} |points = + - 651.5}} |cchampionships = 1 ( ) |dchampionships = 3 ( , , ) |firstrace = 1954 French Grand Prix |lastrace = |firstwin = 1954 French Grand Prix |lastwin = 2015 Belgian Grand Prix |notes = Formula One World Championship only.}} Mercedes Grand Prix are a German constructor currently competing in Formula One. The team, which originally featured in F1 in the 1950s (and in Grand Prix racing since the '20s), currently has German driver Nico Rosberg and British driver Lewis Hamilton as its drivers for the 2015 season, following the retirement of 7-time World Drivers' Champion Michael Schumacher at the end of the 2012 season. At the 2014 Russian Grand Prix, the team were crowned Constructors' World Champions. Pre-F1 1930s Although starting motor racing in 1923, the team did not hit the jackpot until 1935, where Rudolf Caracciola won the European Championship for Mercedes in a dominant year for the team. The following season was a tight battle between Cariaccola's Mercedes and the Auto Union driver Bernd Rosemeyer. However, it was the other German team, Auto Union, that beat Mercedes to the title. Adolf Hitler, the Nazi dictator, made Mercedes-Benz, the emblem of German racing, and the Nazi heavily funded the team from 1937 onwards, giving them a clear advantage over the rest of their opponents. In 1937, Cariaccola took a dominant victory for Mercedes in the European Championship, and continued this form into the 1938 championship. However, the title was fought out this year by the three Merc drivers Cariaccola, Richard Seaman and Manfred von Brauchitsch. However, it was Cariaccola in the end who took victory. In 1939, it was once again a battle to be fought out by Auto Union and Mercedes, although Auto Union driver Hermann Paul Muller finished the season with the most points. Hermann Lang, the season runner-up who was racing for Mercedes, was pronounced the winner of the championship by the Nazis. However, this was never official, and the outbreak of World War II ended the season early. F1 1954-1955 Mercedes-Benz came back into racing for what was now referred to as Formula One (which was a World Championship that formed in ), with the Mercedes-Benz W196, which was advanced in technology. The conventional open-wheeled configuration ran the car, along with a streamlined form that had covered wheels and bodywork that was wider. Juan Manuel Fangio, the champion of , switched mid-season from Maserati to Mercedes-Benz at the 1954 French Grand Prix. Immediate success came to the team, and they received a 1–2 finish with Fangio and Karl Kling, along with the fastest lap set by Hans Herrmann. Fangio won three more races in the 1954 season, and received the Championship in the same year. Success from that year went into , along with the car being developed by Mercedes throughout the season. It was once again won by Mercedes, with Fangio taking four victories, as well as his new teammate Stirling Moss taking victory in Britain. Fangio won his third championship, as Moss finished second. The French, German, Swiss and Spanish Grands Prix were all cancelled after the 1955 Le Mans disaster that killed Pierre Levegh and over 80 spectators. This lead to Mercedes withdrawing from motorsport, including Formula One, after the 1955 season. 2010-present After purchasing a minority stake (45.1%) in with Aabar Investments buying 30% on 16 November 2009, Mercedes came back to racing in Formula One. Ross Brawn kept doing his job as the team principal, and the team retained its base in Brackley, near Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains in Brixworth. After the team's purchase and a sponsorship deal with Petronas, the team was renamed Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team. The team's history is complex, as it can be traced back to when , a team who took part from to , got purchased by British American Tobacco and became British American Racing in . BAR, a team who made a partnership with , finally changed to Honda Racing F1 in after BAT left Formula One. Hands were changed again in when Honda left the sport and got purchased by the team's management, changing the name to Brawn GP, which was named after Ross Brawn. Engines made by Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines were used by Brawn. Although they did not run on a high budget, six of the seven races were won by Jenson Button, who became World Champion, along with Brawn winning the Constructors' Championship, marking the first time that both titles were won by a Formula One team in its first year. Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher were hired by the team for , along with Nick Heidfeld taking the part of a test and reserve driver. As for the Brawn drivers of 2009, Button moved to , while Rubens Barrichello took Rosberg's seat in for 2010. With Brawn's acquisition, Mercedes' involvement with McLaren ended. McLaren Group's 40% shareholding was sold back by Mercedes' parent company Daimler AG, who also continued supplying engines for the team. Unlike under Brawn, Mercedes' performance in 2010 wasn't much competitive, putting them behind , McLaren and . However, Rosberg gave Mercedes their best results of the season with third place finishes in Malaysia, China and Britain. Rosberg finished seventh in the Championship, while Schumacher didn't manage to beat his teammate, win a single race, score a podium, take pole position or set a fastest lap, marking the first time this happened since his first season in . There was also controversy involving him nearly squeezing former Ferrari teammate Barrichello into the wall at 180 mph (290 km/h) in the Hungarian race. Before the 2011 season, the team management's remaining 24.9% stake was purchased by Daimler and Aabar in February 2011. With the MGP W02, the ended for Mercedes after both Schumacher and Rosberg retired due to accident damage on laps 19 and 22 respectively. Rosberg managed to qualify ninth in Malaysia, while Schumacher qualified eleventh, not being able to get through Q3. Mercedes' first points of 2011 were scored when Schumacher finished ninth in the race, while Rosberg finished twelfth. Strong form was shown by both drivers in the . Rosberg led fourteen laps of the race, and finished in fifth place, while Schumacher finished in eighth place. Rosberg received another fifth place finish in the , and Schumacher finished ahead of him in sixth place in Spain. However, the drivers were both unable to score any points for the team in Monaco. Afterwards, Schumacher scored his best result of the season with a fourth place finish after running in second place. In the , Schumacher finished in seventeenth place after making contact with Vitaly Petrov, while Rosberg finished seventh. Both drivers were able to score points in Britain and Germany. Rosberg finished ninth in Hungary, but Schumacher had to retire after receiving issues with his gearbox. Schumacher's bad luck continued when he lost a tyre in the qualifying session of the , and had to start at the back of the grid. However, he was able to finish fifth in the race, while teammate Rosberg, who also led in the race's early stage, finished in sixth place. Like 2010, Mercedes finished fourth in the Constructors' Championship, having 165 points and no wins, podiums or poles. Mercedes replaced the GP from their name with AMG, their high performance division for the 2012 season, changing the name to Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team. Mercedes became the subject of protest at the season's start for a "radical" rear wing concept being used on the Mercedes F1 W03. However, the protest was not settled until it was unanimously rejected by the stewards at the . In China, Rosberg took the team's first pole position as a works team since Fangio in 1955. Schumacher qualified third, but moved up to second after Lewis Hamilton received a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change. Rosberg won the race, making it the first time Mercedes won a race in 57 years, as well as the first time a German driver won a Grand Prix in a German car since Hermann Lang's win at the . It was later announced on 28 September 2012 that Schumacher would be replaced by McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton for three years starting from . Rosberg took pole position in Monaco, and gave Mercedes its first victory of the 2013 season. Hamilton was able to finish in third place in Canada, while Rosberg finished fifth. Rosberg won the after both drivers qualified 1–2. Hamilton won his first race with Mercedes in the , putting the team in second place in the Constructors' Championship. The first race of was won by Rosberg in Australia, while Hamilton was forced to retire with engine issues. However, Hamilton was able to win the , along with leading every lap and setting the fastest lap. Rosberg finished second, marking the first time Mercedes had a 1–2 finish since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix. The result was later repeated in Bahrain, China and Spain. Rosberg and Hamilton then had a 1–2 finish respectively in Monaco and Austria. Rosberg took victory in Germany, marking the first time a German driver racing in a German car won the German Grand Prix since Rudolf Caracciola's win with Mercedes at the 1939 German Grand Prix. After Belgium, Mercedes went on a 8-race winning streak which included winning their first Constructors trophy with a 1–2 finish by Hamilton and Rosberg respectively in Russia. Hamilton won the Drivers' Championship in Abu Dhabi, while Rosberg finished fourteenth after receiving mechanical problems. Sponsorship Mercedes received an early setback in December 2009 when it turned out that Brawn's signing of an £80m sponsorship arrangement with Henkel in July was false. Henkel's response was that they did not know about the deal, and did not have any interest in Formula One. The deal was created, allegedly, by a former employee of Henkel who was on stationary that was stolen for the purposes of the company being defrauded. Henkel said on 22 December that the team had resolved the dispute with a mutual agreement, as well as that it will not pursue legal action, even though it would join the German's Prosecutor's Office so that the matter is clarified. Mercedes announced on 21 December that it would be joined by Malaysian oil supplier Petronas as title sponsor. It will take part under the title of Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team from 2010. The value of the arrangement appears to be €30m each year, according to some reports. The car livery was revealed to the public at the Mercedes museum in Stuttgart on 25 January 2010, with Schumacher and Rosberg also attending. It has Mercedes' traditional silver colours, and the Brawn GP sponsor MIGfx retained. Mercedes still works with these sponsors as of 2014 – except with a few more sponsors – and are one of the Formula One teams to be the most competitive at the moment, with the drivers being Lewis Hamilton (McLaren's former driver before he moved to Mercedes in 2013, replacing Schumacher) and Nico Rosberg. Key Personnel Team Principals *Alfred Neubauer (1926–1955) *Norbert Haug (2010–Present) *Ross Brawn (2010–2013) Technical Directors *Rudolf Uhlenhaut (1954–1955) *Max Sailer (1954–1955) *Nick Fry (2010–Present) Formula One Record Wins Mercedes Driver Grand Prix Count Complete Formula One results Full Results Notes Category:Constructors Category:German Constructors Category:Current Teams Category:Teams based in England Category:1954 Début Constructors Category:Mercedes Category:World Championship Winning Constructors